The present invention relates generally to furniture, and more particularly to furniture for use in meetings and assemblies, such as tables, conference tables, teleconferencing furniture, audio/video presentation furniture, and movie theatre furniture.
In today""s business world, groups interact in many different ways. Some meet face-to-face, others view a presentation, either close up or at a distance. Still others may face an audience or just interact socially.
In some situations, it may be desirable to change configurations one or more times during a meeting, as when a general meeting breaks into subcommittees, and the reconvenes at the end.
Some tables attempting to meet these needs include unattached modules bobbing uneasily on a sea of carpet. Others require disassembly, moving sections and reassembly, which involves support personnel and potentially the loss of small parts.
The present invention is therefore directed to the problem of developing a conference or meeting table capable of being quickly and easily reconfigured to satisfy various group needs without requiring special parts or accessories.
The present invention solves these and other problems by providing an articulating table that opens at one end to form a multi-legged structure in one extreme while appearing as a normal conference table in another extreme.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an exemplary embodiment of the articulating table includes two or more leaves coupled to each other by a large horizontal pivot. As a result, the leaves can be moved to different angles relative to each other, allowing for changes in configuration and capacity.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the articulation can be accomplished using a rule joint, wherein the pivoting members are attached with offsets allowing the leaves to be placed in the same plane. The rule joint is divided into two or more pivot parts, each pivot part being attached to one of the two or more leaves.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the pivot parts have a circular shape and either a protrusion or depression concentric to their center, which fits into a corresponding part on another pivot part. This male/female arrangement provides a bearing surface and maintains alignment as the leaves pivot. Intermediate leaves, if filled, have a hole in their pivot member to accommodate the bearing assembly.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, connectors and overlapping slots in the inner layers hold the joint together and limit motion as necessary. A split base housing rollers supports the other ends of the leaves.